$1 million gift from Foglia foundation to update pharmacy lab

A donation to the College of Pharmacy will improve the compound laboratory, which has been almost unchanged since the building was constructed in 1953.

A $1 million donation to the College of Pharmacy will turn its old compound laboratory into something new.

The Foglia Family Foundation provided the gift to renovate the college’s aging laboratory, where students learn how to develop and test combinations of active pharmaceuticals and delivery systems for new formulations so that the ingredients are effective, stable, easy to use and acceptable to patients. Construction is expected to begin in summer 2016.

Construction is expected to begin in summer 2016 on the new lab.

The existing 7,000-square-foot lab is almost unchanged since the pharmacy building was built in 1953. The compounding lab has “required decades of effort and creativity to overcome its shortcomings,” said College of Pharmacy dean Jerry Bauman.

“We are extremely appreciative of the Foglia family’s gift, as it will not only allow us to bring the lab up to date, but it lays the groundwork for generations of new pharmacists,” he said.

Besides extensive infrastructure work, plans include compounding stations for 50 students, modular elements to encourage collaboration between students and faculty, and a complete overhaul of technology, including videoconferencing and digital recording for pharmacy students on the Rockford campus.

Vince Foglia, co-founder of Sage Products and head of the foundation named for his family, has worked with UIC faculty since 1971. Since he started Sage Products, a health and personal care company in Cary, Foglia has collaborated with pharmacy professors Angel Arambulo and Fred Siegel and former faculty member and UIC alumnus Dennis West.

“Now the Foglia name will formally be a part of our college forever,” Bauman said.